Suggested Framework for Child Poverty Needs Assessment

Below is an example framework / headings for a child poverty needs assessment, informed by existing needs assessments (both child poverty and others). It is not prescriptive and can be used to inform your thinking as you shape your needs assessment locally.

In some cases the needs assessment might not be a stand-alone document but instead a part of some other needs assessment (e.g. the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, the Local Economic Assessment etc). The headings may still be useful – however – to guide your thinking on content and structure.

The key is that the needs assessment provides the basis for strategic decisions and action on the ground (including disinvestment and redesign of services)

What poverty looks like for children in [OUR LOCALITY]

1 Background This section should review the national and local commitments to reducing the instance and impact of poverty on children. In can rearticulate the legislative requirements specific to child poverty, and other relevant requirements (e.g. Equality Bill, Local Economic Assessments, Duty to Co-operate around children etc). It should also include details on how local assessments and strategies will link and inform developments on the national strategy.

2 Why children living in poverty matters You can outline why your locality is committed to reducing the incidence and impact of growing up in poverty. You might want to reflect how responding to child poverty fits with wider strategic ambitions locally and can undermine longer term economic aspirations for an area.

2.1 Who is involved in responding to poverty You may want to include a section that makes very clear the need to have a systemic response to reducing the instance and impact of poverty in childhood. You may want to say who has been involved in the work to date and which partners you would like to pull into the work. It may be worth highlighting those partners named in the Child Poverty Act with a duty to co-operate to ensure commitment/buy in. 3 Local context

Brief outline of your locality e.g.:

- Who lives in your locality?
- Are people transient or stable?
- Are there pockets of affluence and pockets of poverty?
- What is the urban / rural mix?
- What does the local economy look like (e.g. is there a dominant employer, a lot of self-employment, a lot of unemployment etc)

If the Child Poverty Needs Assessment and / or strategy is part of another document (e.g. the Children and Young People’s Plan etc) this may already be covered in those pieces of work.

If you are part of a larger sub-regional or regional partnership you may want to discuss this here (e.g. the Manchester City Region partnership).

4 What does poverty look like locally

This is the bulk of the document. You may want to break it into a number of sections. Below we have suggested using the four Building Blocks as a structure. You may have a local vision that creates a natural structure or a particular focus that shapes how you reflect back the data.

Good practice suggests that you do not separate qualitative and quantitative data into different sections but instead bring all information together around themes.

You may also want to provide analysis within the body of the document and then detailed data and findings in annexes (consider your readers when making this decision).

You will also want to consider how to bring in the activities that are already underway locally to respond to child poverty. You can include these alongside the data analysis (e.g. an ‘activities’ section against each building block) or you might have a separate section that sets this out. Again it is about audience and style

4.1 Data gaps and caveats

At some point in the document you will want to identify data gaps and caveats around the data. You may do this within each specific data section (using footnotes in some cases) or you may choose to dedicate a full section. This depends in large part on the scope of the gaps and if you are hoping to take action in response to gaps. 4.2 Key messages (see also section 6) You may want to summarise the detail that comes later and bring out key messages. This is a particularly powerful way to engage partners by pulling out key facts, quotes, and insights from parents, children, professionals that are relevant to particular partners.

4.3 Financial support What is the local picture of family finances and what activities are underway to respond. You should include qualitative feedback of the impact of financial difficulties, debt and predatory lending (e.g. loan sharks) etc.

4.4 Employment and skills What is the local picture of employment and skills for parents? What does this look like in pockets of deprivation versus concentrated areas? This would be the section where any forecasting about the potential impact of public sector reductions could be highlighted.

4.5 Life Chances What is the local picture of outcomes for children? These can be short and medium term – and where possible long term outcomes. It is particular powerful to talk about GAPS in this section – what are the gaps in life chances for children growing up in distinct groups or in poor families and poor communities versus their more well-off peers.

4.6 Place What does the picture look like when taking a place lens rather than a population lens? You may focus on one or two areas within your locality where poverty is particular high or where it is more challenging to respond (e.g. an area with limited services and poor access to services).

5 Governance It is important to set out the governance structures in the needs assessment document. Who will take overall responsibility/leadership for the needs assessment and strategy development? Will accountability be held by the children’s trust/LSP/Economic Forum etc? What is the role of elected members and others?

6 Key messages and what next This section pulls together all of the information into a set of key messages and insights that provides the foundation for the Child Poverty Strategy. It is also powerful for influencing other strategies and priorities locally, and may include recommendations around this.

It may also include recommendations around gaps in information and data and identify what success looks like.